


Seconds Ticking By

by polandspringz



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Gen, Spoilers for episode 23, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polandspringz/pseuds/polandspringz
Summary: After Julius kills Subaru, he doesn't die right away. A coda of Ferris and Julius in the moments before time resets.
Relationships: Emilia/Natsuki Subaru, Felix Argyle | Ferris & Natsuki Subaru, Julius Juukulius | Julius Euclius & Felix Argyle | Ferris, Julius Juukulius | Julius Euclius & Natsuki Subaru
Comments: 17
Kudos: 110





	Seconds Ticking By

**Author's Note:**

> I finished Re:Zero season 1 last night and nothing hit me harder than the ending of Episode 23. I immediately had an idea for this short fic and figured it would qualify as something I could label for Whumptober. I apologize for any mistakes, I proof read it myself and didn't have a beta reader this time. I hope you enjoy.

The sword did not go through his body easily.

Yet, when the motion was done, Julius easily dropped the weapon and staggered back, the blood splattering across his shoes as Subaru’s neck split open. The head fell off the edge of the sword and rolled directly into the lap of its owner.

“Ferris, I cannot-” Julius whispered as he fell into the other knight, one hand coming up to cover his eyes as nausea clawed at his throat, “I’m going to be sick.”

“We have to trust Subaru-kyun,” Ferris mumbled, gripping Julius’s sleeve as he turned away, “He must know something we don’t-”

“I doubt he knows how to reincarnate, Ferris!”

Julius opened his eyes when he felt the fingers knotted in his sleeve tighten, and immediately cursed himself for shouting. Heavy tears were still streaming down Ferris’ face, and he looked more broken down than before. Still, Ferris sucked in a shaky breath, and continued.

“We don’t know that. He knew that there was no other choice once Betelgeuse took over his body. You heard him, didn’t you? He said ‘If you don’t stop me now, we can’t win.’ He said _we!_ That has to account for something! Subaru-kyun has always been smart like that, always been three steps ahead of everyone, even if he couldn’t explain how. He’s stopped almost every disaster we’ve faced since he arrived. I’m sure then. This time too, he knew that-”

“You’re exactly right, Ferris. He knew exactly what needed to be done when that psychopath possessed him, and he chose to die. He’s not coming back. He’s more courageous than the rest of us.”

Julius smoothed his hand down his face, pausing over his mouth as a shudder went through him, and his voice unsteady, he confessed, “We have blood on our hands.”

“We will have to take care of the body. We can’t have any of the villagers, or the _children_ seeing Subaru-kyun like this.”

Julius huffed out a dry laugh, but his face was ghastly when he turned to look at the corpse bleeding out against the stained log, “I can think of someone who would react worse than the children.”

Ferris gasped and stepped back, “ _Emilia,”_ his expression hardened, “we will have to move _now.”_

“Where will we even go with him like this?”

“We’ll have to bury him, Julius! We can’t just leave him-”

“Or do what we did with Betelgeuse. We could blow up the body.”

“No, we can’t disrespect his body like that-”

“Why?” Julius’s eyes narrowed, and he forced himself to look at the puddle of blood that was seeping into Subaru’s shoes. _A distant part of his mind thought fondly on how odd his clothing always was, how otherworldly his rubber shoes were and how it only added to his eccentric charm. Now, he was empty, save for the few finger twitches as the body clung to the last moments of life,_ “It’s not even Subaru’s body anymore. What we killed was a monster of the Witch’s Cult. _It_ deserves no respect.”

Ferris gasped, “Julius, you can’t say such a thing! Subaru-kyun is-”

There was rustling through the trees. Both men flinched.

“Go watch for who’s coming. I will dispose of the body,” Julius whispered.

Ferris started to move towards the brush, but turned back around with a hopeful expression, “What if Subaru-kyun comes back though? What if he did know something else and his soul tries to return to the body and we-”

“Ferris, don’t be foolish. You and I ended him with our own hands. Go watch the entrance. Stop whoever is coming. I will finish this.”

Julius didn’t bother to look back. He listened to the shuffling as Ferris padded through the dirt and then the rustle as he vanished into the trees. After a minute, Julius stepped forward, knelt down, and shedding his coat, draped it over the body.

“I am… sorry my… friend. I wish we could have thought of another solution.”

Any involuntary muscle spasms had finally stopped, and it would only be a few more moments until the body was truly dead. Although, in this state, Julius doubted it was even right to say it was still living to begin with.

Still, despite his attempts to distance himself with callous thoughts that the body in front of him meant nothing, he still found himself speaking to it.

“I will… see to finish what you started. You said this was the only way we could win but… Truthfully I feel as though this is the greatest loss. The worst outcome. I only wish I could’ve known what you wished to say to me. I suppose I could ask Ferris. You and he were always whispering a lot.”

Julius pressed his lips into a thin line, feeling them tremble as he took another sharp breath.

“I never… I suppose just in the same way I’ll never know, you will never hear what I wished to say to you. I called you my friend just now, didn’t I? Haha… It slipped out but I-”

Julius pressed his fingers gently to his neck as his throat closed up and became tight. Silently, he removed his sword from his belt and laid it on the ground in between the two of them. Then, he reached his hands forward towards the growing red stain in his coat, and scooped up the head, holding it close to him as water fell onto the linen fabric and mixed with the crawling blood.

It was then that Julius let himself cry.

Minutes passed before he found himself strong enough to pull away. Ferris was right. Subaru deserved to be put to rest properly. The coat was ruined, but he would bury it with the man too. It would be too much explaining as to where all the blood came from anyway.

He wiped his eyes and started to stand up, setting the head back down in the lap of its owner. First, he would need to find-

“Emilia, wait! You mustn’t!”

Julius whipped around as he heard twigs snapping and branches rustling, seeing the white hair and dress of Emilia just behind the foliage. Ferris’s figure in the low light was rushing after her, but it was too late.

This was the worst outcome.

“Julius, where is Subaru?! I heard his voice, and from the others I heard he was with-”

Julius tried to step in front of her, but it was too late.

Her eyes widened, and he knew she saw.

Ferris stopped walking. Julius closed his eyes. Emilia’s heart stopped.

Then-

She screamed.

_“Subaru!”_

Julius threw out his arm and blocked her path as she rushed forward, and then commanded the spirits. With a single sweep of his other hand, the body exploded and was incinerated.

And then the second hand stopped.

**Author's Note:**

> Re:Zero was a show I've been meaning to watch for years since so many Anitubers I watch have been making videos on it since season one aired. During quarantine, I finally found the time to do so, and am so grateful I did. I'm making my way through season 2 now, but I didn't expect to love the show as much as I did. There were so many good moments, from this scene that inspired me, Wilhelm's backstory, Emilia and Subaru's argument, to the final episode of Emilia and Subaru just talking to one another. I've always liked isekai shows, but this one is truly special. I hope to write many more stories for this fandom, and since I'm a cosplayer too, I hope one day I'll manage to cosplay at least one of the characters from this series (I'm torn between Emilia, Julius, Otto, and Theresia!)


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